Your say, SA survey shows students need to acquire life skills as incentives to boost Year 12 scores
STUDENTS should be encouraged to acquire life skills by offering them incentives that will boost their Year 12 scores, a leading social researcher says.
STUDENTS should be encouraged to acquire life skills by offering them incentives that will boost their Year 12 scores, a leading social researcher says.
More than two-thirds of respondents to the survey say the school curriculum, which is nationally consistent up to Year 10, is failing to prepare children for the future.
Many say students need to be taught financial skills such as how to budget, invest, secure loans, handle money and do tax returns.
Others believe growing vegetables, cooking healthy meals, mending clothes and handyman skills should be covered.
And preparation for the workforce, including how to approach job interviews and deal with rejection, is another familiar theme.
Social researcher and demographer Mark McCrindle said there were many reasons parents were no longer teaching children basic life skills.
They included both mum and dad being in paid work, students having more homework, children being “absorbed in (computer) screens”, parents feeling pressured to prioritise academic achievement and a disconnection from organisations such as Scouts where children learned practical skills.
Mr McCrindle said it was unrealistic to expect schools to teach those skills because they were already overburdened, squeezing in everything from road safety to anti-bullying and drug and alcohol education.
Parents were “intimidated by the (education) system” that put an increasing focus on Year 12 completion, academic results and university entry, so parents were reluctant to make kids spend time acquiring non-academic skills.
Mr McCrindle said a possible solution would be for “life skills” achievements, such Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme medals and lifesaving medallions, to count toward overall school results.
Among other survey findings, TAFE is rated as significantly better than universities at preparing young people for the workforce.
Only half of respondents think school teachers are sufficiently skilled, while more than one in three say they are not paid enough.
Just over 60 per cent support NAPLAN testing and a majority (56.6 per cent) say Year 7 should be in high school. SA is the only state where Year 7 students remain in public primary schools.
Paul Wright, head of middle school at Immanuel College, said Year 7s there benefited from specialist science, technology, home economics, music and art facilities.
He said Year 7s were “ready to be challenged” academically and given opportunities for independence, but needed a strong pastoral support system. At Immanuel they spent about 60 per cent of the school day with their home room teacher.